Black Philanthropy Initiative

Through engagement and encouragement, the Black Philanthropy Initiative (BPI) educates people to recognize their philanthropic strengths of time, talent, and treasure for meaningful impact in the Black community and addresses identified needs while continuing to build on the giving traditions in the Black community.

BPI was launched in 2007 and is led by an advisory committee of community volunteers. The initiative supports issues that impact the African-American community by awarding grants to nonprofit organizations serving the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County area, with a special focus on programs related to education, financial literacy, and parenting and life skills training. Nonprofit organizations seeking to enhance their current programming or those planning to implement new programs serving African-Americans in these areas are encouraged to apply.

In May 2017, the Black Philanthropy Initiative (BPI) utilized the services of Gramercy Research Group to gather and synthesize data in Forsyth County as it relates to Black families. This information, coupled with feedback from community listening sessions, will guide BPI’s future work, grantmaking, and activities.

The remainder of 2017 was used to transition findings into actions and tactics to guide the work of BPI. Due to the extensive information gathering process and in order to make better investment decisions within Forsyth County in the future, BPI’s advisory committee voted to cancel its 2017 grant cycle. Therefore, BPI’s next grant cycle will open in the summer of 2018.